


End of the World

by kiyala



Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-07-04
Updated: 2007-07-04
Packaged: 2017-10-12 02:25:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/119765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>When the world dies, we'll die with it.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	End of the World

  
"Kurosaki."

"Mm?"

"The world is dying."

The Shinigami blinked, turning his head towards his companion. The two of them were lying on the roof of their dorm – at his suggestion, of course – and were watching the stars.

Letting out a long sigh, he turned his gaze back to the night sky.

"I know." He did. More than the Quincy by his side could understand. More than anyone in the mortal world would understand.

Except, perhaps, for Urahara Kisuke.

Ryuuken sat up, and Isshin turned to him, folding his arms beneath his head. Before the bespectacled man could say a thing, he shrugged.

"Don't start blaming it on us."

"I'm not going to. I don't hate Shinigami for doing what they must. If I did, you would be dead by now."

Isshin didn't doubt his friend's words.

"The blame can't be pinned on just one group," Ryuuken murmured, wrapping his arms around his legs in an effort to fight off the cold that was creeping through the night and beneath his clothes.

Isshin noticed this, and pulled Ryuuken close. The Quincy didn't protest when he felt the Shinigami's chest cushioning his head, or the large arm wrapping around his shoulders. There was no one awake to see them at this hour. They could get away with it.

"Tell me," he murmured, taking his glasses off, folding them and holding onto them, "When the world ends, will you still be there?"

"There?" Isshin frowned. His arm wrapped tighter around Ryuuken. "Where? When the world ends, we'll end with it."

Somehow, this was more reassuring than an optimistic comment, and the Quincy turned his face away from the world, gladly accepting the warmth of Isshin's chest.

"Good."

*

  
Ishida Ryuuken was as confusing as humans came. Initially, Isshin hadn't thought that there would be any difference between Shinigami and humans in terms of social interaction. Of course, humans were less likely to break out into sword fights or use binding spells when they were annoyed with each other, but Isshin had thought that the differences would end there.

"He's definitely interesting," Kisuke mused, bringing his pipe to his mouth. They were sitting on the porch of Urahara Shouten, Isshin's pants and shirt being a stark contrast to the blonde's robes. The shop keeper grinned in a way that Isshin only knew to mean trouble. "Personally, I wouldn't mind running a few tests on him. I was never given the opportunity to thoroughly examine the body of a Quincy… that was all done by my predecessor."

"Kisuke," Isshin protested, "Your predecessor slaughtered his ancestors. He wouldn't appreciate you talking about it like that – heck, I don't appreciate it."

"Oh?" the scientist gave him a knowing look, "You've become close friends with him already, have you? Is it his reiatsu? It feels significantly different to Shinigami reiatsu, doesn't it? Perhaps prolonged exposure to it could drive a Shinigami insane—"

"I'm not crazy," Isshin cut in, shaking his head, "We're just friends."

" _Friends_." Kisuke pronounced the word carefully. "Do you mean friends in the sense that the two of you get along very well? Or do you mean it in the sense that he was the one who took care of you and kept you out of trouble when your dear Masaki-san got herself a boyfriend?"

"This isn't just about Masaki-chan," Isshin growled, "He's a good friend. He understands me."

"Understands you, Isshin?" Kisuke raised an eyebrow, "Do you really sleep with all your friends that _understand_ you? My, I feel left out…"

The dark-haired man sighed. "Kisuke. Do you think you could be serious about this?"

"You want me to be serious?" the blonde asked in a voice that told Isshin that he should have just kept his mouth shut. Puffing on his pipe, the exile narrowed his eyes. "As you brought up, my predecessor was the one who was mostly responsible for the Quincy clan being near extinction. They were lucky he… passed away before he could finish what he had started…"

Isshin frowned at his friend's choice of words. For the first decade of Kisuke's post as the head of the research department, it had been speculated that he had been responsible for the death of the previous captain. There was no proof, but there weren't any signs to explain the captain's death after performing an autopsy. After Kisuke proved himself to be a competitive captain – the most successful researcher, even if he didn't quite qualify as the least sadistic Shinigami that had held the position of Captain of the Twelfth Division – people decided they didn't care how Urahara Kisuke had risen to the level of captain. They just wanted him to stay. So he did. For as long as they could tolerate him.

"…But now they've replaced me with Kurotsuchi. Of all people, why _him_? Do you remember how he was when he graduated from the academy? All snivelly and nerdy? I bet he was the kind of guy who no one wanted to sit next to in class. I heard that he's _making_ his own fukutaichou. Using a modified version of my konpaku method, I'll bet. One casket of sake says that he'll make himself a pretty girl—"

"Kisuke…?" Isshin sighed. "I thought you had a point here. About Ishida."

"Ah, Ishida-san~!" Kisuke exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Yes. Kurotsuchi took over my position, as I said. You see, the Quincy souls resemble ours in the sense that they retain their powers in spirit form. This essentially means that they die once as humans, and can then again as spirits. All my predecessor was interested in was removing them from the mortal world. There's an underground dungeon in Sereitei where they were kept. He didn't want to let them go, and he didn't want to kill them. He used the excuse that a Quincy soul could rebirth as Quincy, but he just enjoyed keeping them locked up. I didn't take very much of an interest in them myself. I just made sure they wouldn't die of starvation, and left them to do spend their time in their cells. I don't think Kurotsuchi will be as apathetic. If he seems something helpless, his first reaction will be to cut it up. This Quincy prison will be nothing more than a game to him."

Isshin paled, images of Ryuuken tied down to a table with Kurotsuchi Mayuri preparing to cut him up invading his mind. He shook his head, and Kisuke gave him a knowing look, making a sound that said that he wasn't finished.

"Furthermore, several Quincy families went into hiding during the purge. They continue practicing, but under many safety measures to ensure they escape the detection of the Shinigami patrolling their area. It's easy enough – patrolling Shinigami are nowhere near as vigilant as they would like to believe – but for an experienced researcher, it's easy to find them. All that one would need is the desire to find them, and they can be found… I wouldn't put it past Kurotsuchi to find all those remaining of the Quincy bloodline and kill them to run tests on them. You'd better watch out for Ishida-san too… a Quincy is remarkably good at masking its reiatsu, and even better at sensing danger, but a single slip and he could be the next on Kurotsuchi's operation table."

Isshin shuddered violently, forcing the thought out of his mind. He stood and nodded. "Yeah. I'll make sure he stays out of trouble. I can still protect him for a while longer anyway. This gigai hasn't finished sucking my power yet."

"Give it another month," Kisuke murmured, leaning back against the shop building, "Then you'll be as good as human. You might still see things, and sense them, but not very much else. You'd better be saying your goodbyes to your zanpakuto soon too. If my calculations are correct, you won't be able to take on your Shinigami form in another twenty five days. Your powers will become dormant, and waste away. Of course, I made allowances in case you change your mind. I'll be hard forcing your soul out of your body – and it will become increasingly difficult as time passes – I've already told you how to do so, should the need arise. But once broken, your powers will slowly return. You'll be a half-Shinigami, half-human. You think you can handle that?"

"I won't need to be a Shinigami any more," Isshin muttered, "I was going to stay for Masaki-chan, but now I'll stay so I can keep Ryuuken company. He needs it."

"Or do you simply need to keep him company?" Kisuke asked with a small smile, but didn't allow Isshin the time to reply. "You'd better get going. Your break ends in five minutes, you should get back to your college."

"Say hi to Yoruichi-san for me if she comes around."

"Of course. If she comes around."

*

  
Isshin was sitting at his desk and studying when Ryuuken came in. He looked up with a big grin, but it faded as he saw the look on his friend's face.

"…Ryuu-chan, what's wrong?"

Ryuuken sighed wearily, placing his bag down on the floor beside his desk and sitting down. "There's been a death in the family."

The Shinigami swore softly, his hand reaching out to rest on the other man's shoulder.

"My second-cousin, and her entire family. They were killed."

The fright was visible in Isshin's eyes for less than a second, but Ryuuken noticed it.

"You knew, didn't you? That the Shinigami were out on the hunt again. They've been three deaths in the past week that have been traced to Shinigami – and they were all families that went into hiding when the Quincy Clan was first being purged."

"Ryuuken—"

"When were you planning to let me know?" Ryuuken asked, his voice cold as he stood, towering over Isshin with his blue eyes bright with anger and pain, "Were you waiting until my father and I were lying on our deathbeds? I thought I could trust you, Kurosaki. Just goes to show what my judgement is like, doesn't it?"

Isshin got to his feet, "Just listen—"

"Why should I? I should have known better to trust a Shinigami—"

" _Listen_!" Isshin yelled, shaking his friend's shoulders. Ryuuken's eyes widened when he saw something he'd never seen before in Isshin's eyes; anger.

"I'm not a Shinigami any more, and you have to understand that! What the hell would I leave Sereitei for, where things were so easy for me? I was a captain! I had friends! Do you really think I'd give all of that up for no reason, 'Ken? I was infatuated with Masaki-chan, yeah, but that wasn't the only reason. You think you dislike Shinigami for what they've done to your clan? Try and think what it would be like if you'd actually _seen_ how corrupt and evil they can be. I left because I didn't want to be part of the place after Kisuke was exiled. Most of the captains are great, sure, but with people like Kurotsuchi, and Aizen…" his grip on Ryuuken tightened for a moment before he let go, looking away.

"…I was sure that if things came down to it, I'd be able to protect you. Or at least keep you away from trouble. You're careful enough as it is… it took me a while to notice you were a Quincy, even when I was sitting next to you in class. I never thought that you'd make an easy target for Kurotsuchi's minions."

The Quincy stared at him with wide eyes for a long moment before blinking, his normal composed self returning.

"I thought—"

"Sometimes, you think too much," Isshin murmured, closing the distance between their lips. Ryuuken sighed into the kiss and Isshin brought his hands up to hold the sides of the other man's face, stroking the smooth, pale skin with his thumbs.

"You're not going to get hurt," the once-Shinigami assured Ryuuken, gently pushing him down so that he was sitting on his desk. "Not when I'm around. And I plan on sticking around for a while."

Ryuuken didn't protest when Isshin's hands untucked his shirt, sliding beneath them against the skin of his stomach. Tilting his head back with a small gasp, he smiled at the feeling of Isshin's lips and teeth against his neck as his shirt was undone. "Mmm, Kurosaki…"

"I'm right here, Ishida," Isshin replied, slowly pushing Ryuuken's shirt off and kissing down his chest, "Not. Going. Anywhere."

The Quincy let out a soft moan, running his fingers through the other man's short hair before finding the buttons of his shirt. "A little less teasing, if you will…"

There was a mischievous glint in Isshin's eyes before he wrapped his arms around the slender man, carrying him to one of their beds.

*

  
Masaki-chan's relationship with her boyfriend lasted for three years. Isshin and Ryuuken's… _mutual understanding_ , as Ryuuken had put it, lasted for three and a half. It was the Quincy who had made the final decision, and judging by the empty look in his eyes for the following few months, Isshin knew that it was a decision that was every bit as difficult as his own decision to give up his Shinigami powers.

By this time, Isshin was unable to sense any kind of reiatsu – Kisuke was impressed by the effectiveness of his own inventions – and could only very vaguely feel their power if he was looking directly at them. Seeing the spirits was becoming increasingly difficult as well. They were mostly transparent, and it usually took him a while to notice that they were even there.

Ryuuken had left him with the words, "I do believe it would do you some good to ask Masaki-san out on a date. Your eyes have been wandering to her ever since she broke up with Hiro."

Isshin had since seen him having awkward conversations with the quiet-but-pretty girl in their anatomy class. Of course. Ryuuken wouldn't have done it if it meant nothing more than sacrifice from his end. He wondered how long Ryuuken had been looking at Aiko-san, and how he hadn't noticed. It was probably because he was preoccupied with Masaki-chan.

A month later, he began dating her. By the time they graduated, Ryuuken was engaged to Aiko Nomura and was ready to completely disappear from Isshin's life. And then, somehow – just to spite them both – Masaki and Aiko made friends before they graduated.

Isshin watched Ryuuken marry Aiko in a quiet, traditional ceremony and toasted him several times at the party that followed.

He proposed to Masaki that night.

*

  
Masaki's death was different to Aiko's.

Aiko had died with her newborn son in her arms, with his name on her lips. She died surrounded by warmth, love and comfort. Everything Ryuuken could give her in her last moments without betraying the despair he felt inside.

Masaki died in the cold rain, fear etched onto her face even when her body was nothing but a soulless shell.

Aiko had died whispering her son's name.

Masaki died screaming her son's name.

Aiko had died to give her son life.

Masaki died to keep her son alive.

Masaki's death wasn't all too different to Aiko's.

*

  
Ryuuken withdrew into himself after his wife's death. He gave his son what little warmth he could manage, and there was none left for the rest of the world. He grayed at an alarming rate, often choosing to stay the night at work and asking his father to take care of his son in his stead. As his slender fingers shifted through the paperwork, as he slowly climbed the ranks at the hospital, he realised that his son wouldn't grow up to love him and appreciate him for the things he didn't do.

He decided it was a fair punishment for what he was doing.

If anything, Isshin expanded himself after the death of his wife. He had three children to take care of, and it was this fact that reminded him that he was not as alone as he believed. He made the effort to smile more, to put his children before everything else. He would take lunch breaks for three hours, to take the girls to the park. He would close the clinic early, to pick Ichigo up from school. He made sure that the children grew up with the love and warmth that they needed.

He knew that it was the least he could do.

*

  
The next time Isshin saw Ryuuken was when Ichigo was sixteen, and brought a friend home from school. His son gave him a surprised look upon finding that he wasn't in the clinic, but shrugged it off and nodded in greeting.

"Uh, this is a friend from school. Invited him over for a while, we'll be… upstairs."

Isshin stood frozen as he watched the slender, dark-haired boy follow his son up the stairs.

When he heard the door of Ichigo's room shut and lock, he was sure that it was Ryuuken's son. And if he wasn't mistaken, his son was in almost the same position as _he_ was, not too many years ago.

"Okay boys, I'm going out for a while! Daddy has some work to do, so be good okay? And make sure your friend stays for dinner!"

He received no reply as he found his coat and left the house.

He had only meant to walk half way to the hospital before turning back, but he didn't stop walking until he was on the ground floor of the hospital, wandering towards the reception desk.

"Kurosaki-sensei!" one of the receptionists greeted cheerfully, and Isshin snapped back to reality. Giving the girl a small wave, he turned on his heel and quickly left, asking himself what he was thinking.

When he returned home, Ichigo and his friend were still upstairs, and the girls were home from the park. Yuzu worriedly informed him that Ichigo hadn't opened his door at all since they had come home, and although Isshin felt reluctant to disturb the boys, he promised his daughter that he would make her brother come downstairs and apologise for worrying her.

"Yo, Ichigo!" he called, knocking on the door. There was a small silence before Ichigo replied.

"Yeah?"

"Why is your door shut and locked? You worried your poor little sister! Come outside and apologise right away!"

He heard an agitated sigh before a click that told him that the door was unlocked. Ichigo's head poked out from behind the door. "Yuzu?"

"She's downstairs. Why don't you and your friend come downstairs? It's almost seven, so we'll have dinner soon anyway."

Ichigo sighed again, but didn't protest. Opening the door wider, he turned back to the boy who was sitting on his bed, reading a book.

"Oy. Uryuu. We have to go downstairs, alright? You're staying for dinner."

"Of course," came the reply, and the boy looked up from his book and Isshin couldn't move as the blue eyes looked at him. "Pleased to meet you, Kurosaki-san. I hope I'm not causing any inconvenience."

Isshin laughed, to make the boy feel comfortable as well as to ease away his own tension. "Not at all! It's always good to see my boy's making friends. Ichigo, go talk to your sister and then go to the corner store. There's a list on the fridge of the things you need to buy."

Groaning in protest, Ichigo scratched his head, "Man, why me? You just went out, didn't you? Couldn't you pick them up before you got home?"

"I forgot," Isshin replied plainly, grabbing Ichigo by the collar and pushing him towards the stairs, "Now go~!"

Stumbling down the stairs, Ichigo grabbed onto the railing before he fell, and looked up at Uryuu, who was watching him from the top of the staircase. "This won't take long. You wanna come with?"

"He's our guest, you can't make him go shopping with you!" Isshin protested loudly, "He'll stay home. Now hurry up and talk to your sister before going and buying the food! Or else Uryuu-kun will get hungry!"

Ichigo's gaze returned to Uryuu for a moment before he turned and jumped down the rest of the stairs, looking for Yuzu before getting the shopping list from the kitchen and leaving the house.

"Uryuu-kun, come and sit downstairs," Isshin invited with a small smile. Uryuu barely returned the smile, but nodded politely and followed him downstairs. Isshin clenched his fist tightly, noticing and trying to ignore the fact that the boy resembled Ryuuken both in appearance and manner.

"Hello, who are you?" Yuzu greeted him as they reached the dining room.

"I'm… Uryuu," came the reply, clearly showing that he was not used to introducing himself by that name.

"What's your family name, Uryuu-kun?" Isshin asked before he could stop himself.

"Ishida," came the simple reply. Even though he was not surprised at all, Isshin still felt his heart stop.

"Ah. You're Ryuuken's boy?"

There was an uncomfortable silence while Uryuu stared at the floor. Pulling up a seat, he sank into it and rested his elbows on the table, watching his hands as he spoke. "Yes. Ryuuken is of that relation to me."

Isshin flinched as he heard Uryuu referring to his father by name, using the emotionless voice that he could remember Ryuuken using when he was angry. He didn't say any more on the topic, and it was clear that Uryuu was grateful for it.

"So you're Ichigo's classmate?"

"Yes."

"You're the first friend he's brought home in a while. Are you close to him?"

"…I would suppose so."

"Is Ichigo a good student at school? Well mannered? Does his work?"

Finally, a smile spread across the boy's lips. It was a fond smile, and it didn't disappear the next second, as Isshin was afraid it would.

"Ichigo?" Uryuu murmured, "Not at all."

Isshin grinned, about to exclaim, "That's my boy!" but Ichigo chose that time to walk through the door.

Uryuu turned to him before Isshin did, the smile still on his face. Ichigo looked at him in surprise for a moment before grinning back and walking to the kitchen, placing a bag of groceries on the counter. Yuzu quickly finished what she was making and began setting the table. Uryuu rose to his feet to help, and Ichigo did the same. Isshin watched on in amusement, wondering if the boy's manners would rub off on his son.

They both finished eating quickly, getting up and putting their dishes in the dishwasher before Ichigo muttered that they were going to return upstairs. As they climbed the stairs, Isshin noticed Ichigo's hand discretely reaching out to rest against Uryuu's hip.

It wasn't something that was easy to spot. He knew that. The only reason he had noticed it was because he had, on countless occasions, done it himself with Ryuuken.

*

  
Seeing Ryuuken again felt anticlimactic. But considering that he had regained his Shinigami powers not long before, it was understandable.

It probably also had something to do with the fact that Ryuuken didn't act as though they hadn't seen each other since Masaki's funeral. They sat, spoke, and Ryuuken smoked. Isshin suddenly felt as though the eight years that had passed since they had last met didn't mean anything. This was the exact same feeling that he had felt last time. This was the same silence that he didn't feel comfortable enough to break.

He cleared his throat.

"I saw Uryuu-kun. A while back."

Ryuuken looked up immediately, the look in his eyes being a silent demand for Isshin to continue.

"…Do you know? About Ichigo?"

"That my son is as much of a fool for yours as I once was for you?" Ryuuken asked quietly, taking a long drag of his cigarette before replying. "I knew. Why else do you think I imposed the rule of him that he wasn't to associate with Shinigami?"

Isshin smiled, mostly to himself. "I keep telling you, 'Ken. We're not Shinigami. I'm not one any more. Ichigo never was. Looks like Uryuu's realised it, but you haven't."

"Of course. Because your son has a Hollow living inside of him. Much safer than a Shinigami, isn't it?"

Isshin opened his mouth to reply, but Ryuuken rose to his feet, turning away from him.

"I'm going to get Urahara to send me over as well."

Isshin raised an eyebrow, "I thought you said that you were leaving it up to Uryuu-kun as to whether or not he'd live?"

"This isn't about Uryuu," Ryuuken muttered, looking over his shoulder, "I know that Urahara is planning to join the fight. You're going as well, aren't you? Even though you still have your daughters to take care of. The only thing I have is off on the other side of a portal, probably struggling to keep himself alive. Joining you would be better than sitting idle."

"One day, Ryuuken," Isshin murmured, leaning back against the wall, shutting his eyes with a small grin on his face, "You'll learn that it won't kill you to admit you care about somebody."

*

  
Seeing Ryuuken after the war was almost as important to him as seeing Ichigo. His son was fine – or at least, he was once his polite friend Orihime-san healed him – and Isshin knew that he would be fine. He left him beside Uryuu, pretending not to notice the way they huddled close to each other.

"Ryuuken!" he cried in both relief and surprise when he found the other man being tended to by Unohana Retsu. The older Quincy looked irate, stalking towards him as soon as the captain was finished dressing his wounds.

"Don't disappear in the middle of a fight like that, you _scared_ me, you idiot!"

Ryuuken looked as though he was about to retort, but Isshin pulled him out of sight and against a wall.

"Ishida, don't tell me that what we did the night before going to Hueco Mundo was a spur of the moment thing," Isshin murmured, his rough hands stroking Ryuuken's face, "I can tell when you lie, you know."

"Idiot," Ryuuken grumbled, pulling Isshin into a quick kiss, "If this is how it's going to be, you'd better learn the meaning of the world subtlety, Kurosaki. I don't think our sons would take very well to the idea that we're… doing this."

"You know how good I am at keeping secrets," the dark-haired man replied, and his zanpakuto clinked with his movement as though to support his statement. "Look, our boys are going to need some alone time. Why don't you stay over at my place? I'll bet you that Ichigo's going to make up some kind of excuse to stay at Uryuu-kun's flat."

*

  
True to Isshin's prediction, Ichigo hadn't returned home saying that there was going to be a gathering of their friends at Uryuu's flat, to celebrate the end of the fighting. Neither Isshin nor Ryuuken could sense any reiatsu from the young Quincy's flat that wasn't distinctly one of their sons.

Karin and Yuzu, who had been sent to a relative's house and told that their father had some important work to do, needed to be contacted, but Isshin decided that it could be done tomorrow. He had bought some sake on the way home, and took Ryuuken up onto the roof.

"You remember how we used to do this all the time when we were younger?" Isshin murmured, lying on the cold roof tiles and admiring the night sky.

Ryuuken managed a small smile, lying down beside his old friend. "Do you remember what I said to you, one night?"

"The world is dying," Isshin said softly. He turned his head towards Ryuuken and smiled. "It is. It always has been."

"We survived this time, but we will eventually run out of time," Ryuuken murmured, not resisting as Isshin pulled him closer. "What then?"

"That's what our kids are there for. Our boys. My girls. Even if we're not there for them any more, they'll be there for each other. Especially Ichigo and Uryuu-kun."

"They're too similar to us. They're young, they care about each other, they're stupid. Who knows what will happen. Perhaps there'll be another Aiko. Another Masaki. That Inoue girl—"

Isshin smiled, silencing Ryuuken with a deep kiss.

"Sure, they're similar to us 'Ken. But the main difference between me and Ichigo is the fact that he's smarter than I am. He won't let go of Uryuu, no matter what. I know it."

"And if he does…?"

"Who knows?" Isshin replied, but then grinned. "If Ichigo's as lucky as I am, he might end up lying on a roof with Uryuu, a few years down the track. And he'll realise how stupid he's been."

"Is that so?" Ryuuken asked with a small smile. Isshin kissed him again and it grew.

"You know it, pretty boy."

x


End file.
